The tsunami and 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan recently have triggered the worst crisis ever recorded in the history of the country. The natural disaster is estimated to have killed more than 18,000 people, and has also resulted in the closure of 11 out of the total 54 nuclear plants in the country.
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BMI View: The signing of nuclear reactor construction agreements with Russia and Japan highlights Vietnam’s serious intentions to employ nuclear energy as a means to resolve its chronic electricity shortages. Despite a number of downside risks throughout the project phase, we believe that current electricity needs will outweigh these risks and the project will proceed. (more…)

Italian oil and gas company Eni has signed a strategic agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo for co-operation and valorization of the country’s oil resources.

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Swedish power utility Vattenfall has reported a net profit of SEK2.62 billion for the second quarter of 2009, compared to SEK4.04 billion for the same period of 2008.
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Suntech Power Holdings, a manufacturer of photovoltaic modules, has entered into a strategic agreement with China Huadian New Energy Development to develop a total of 500MW of utility-scale and commercial roof-top solar projects in China’s sun rich western provinces, Jiangsu province and Shanghai over the next three years.
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RWE has said that it will commence natural gas deliveries in 2013 to a 841MW combined-cycle power plant that is being built by the CEZ Group in Pocerady in North Bohemia, Czech Republic.
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Three new reports concerning the material markets for photovoltaics are published by NanoMarkets on reports-research.com.

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Managing spent nuclear fuels across the world has been one of the major concerns of the nuclear industry worldwide. Since spent nuclear fuel from the reactors is high level radioactive waste, it is important for the nuclear power generating countries to have well organized spent fuel management mechanisms. This would give enormous opportunities for the spent fuel storage equipment manufacturers. The new Nuclear Equipment report from GlobalData titled “Global Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2015” presents an in-depth analysis of spent fuel storage industry and presents forecasts of spent fuel storage equipments’ demand. The report covers the global nuclear power industry development, its growth trajectory and the demand for spent fuel casks in the global nuclear power industry. The report also presents in-depth analysis on region-wise product segments and revenue analysis in the spent fuel cask industry and also analyses the key players in the global nuclear spent fuel industry.
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US-based power and gas utility Avista has received a new 50-year operating license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the five hydropower developments that make up its Spokane River Project.

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Polish environment minister Maciej Nowicki has announced that Warsaw will invest PLN5 billion ($1.55 billion) over the next few years to meet its renewables target as part of the European Union’s strategy to combat global warming. Poland’s energy situation reflects the conundrum within which much of Europe finds itself, and provides an interesting microcosm to consider wider issues.
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